


Pictures

by LacrimaDraconis



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-15
Updated: 2011-03-15
Packaged: 2017-10-17 00:18:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/170907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LacrimaDraconis/pseuds/LacrimaDraconis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elena hadn't thought about their dance at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pictures

_**TVD-fic: Pictures (Damon/Elena)**_  
 **Title:** Pictures  
 **Author:** [](http://lacrimadraconis.livejournal.com/profile)[**lacrimadraconis**](http://lacrimadraconis.livejournal.com/)  
 **Pairing:** Damon/Elena  
 **Rating:** PG-13  
 **Spoilers:** none really, just 1x19 and vague-ish mentions of season 2  
 **Word count:** ~ 2800  
 **Summary:** Elena hadn't thought about their dance at all.  
 **Disclaimer:** Written for fun, not for profit.

 **A/N:** Thanks to my wonderful beta [](http://wattle-neurotic.livejournal.com/profile)[**wattle_neurotic**](http://wattle-neurotic.livejournal.com/)   for super speedy work and [](http://gehirnstuerm.livejournal.com/profile)[**gehirnstuerm**](http://gehirnstuerm.livejournal.com/)  for telling me the dialogue didn't suck *g*

  


Elena is still a little confused as to what is to be expected from her visit to the Lockwood mansion this afternoon. She had seen Carol Lockwood at a meeting for the Historical Society that Jenna had dragged her to and the interim mayor of Mystic Falls had held her back afterwards.

“Elena darling, there’s something I want to give to you, but I don’t have it with me right now. It’s nothing too important, but would you stop by my office later this afternoon? It would be a shame if you didn’t see it.”

Tyler’s mother had said only this much, but when Elena had tried to inquire more about the mystery object, she had only gotten a smile and been told it should be a surprise.

Naturally these days, Elena isn’t very fond of surprises. There had been too much bad news over the last couple of weeks, or months really, going from werewolves to being kidnapped for Originals to Jenna stabbing herself to... she doesn’t even want to think about it.

But unless Carol Lockwood had suddenly turned into a siren or something, whatever she has in store for Elena can’t be too bad. But then again, in Mystic Falls you never know.

“There you are, Elena. Thanks for coming over. It’s really not something incredibly urgent, but I still thought you might want to have these.”

Mrs Lockwood hands Elena what looks like a bunch of paper at the first glance, but actually turns out to be several photographs.

They show Elena in a beautiful outfit, midnight-blue gown, curled hair and soft, natural make-up. She slightly winces at the curly hair; it hits a little too close to home with Katherine still around these days, but when she looks at the next picture, her breath catches in her throat. It wasn’t only her in her Miss Mystic Falls robe, but there she was, dancing with Damon.

“I’m sorry that you only get these now, but there has been so much going on lately and I completely forgot about them.”

“It’s okay Mrs Lockwood, I understand.” Elena answers, knowing exactly what Carol means but not wanting to say it out loud.

“I didn’t even know they took pictures at the pageant, my memory... everything is a bit hazy.” She briefly shakes her head before adding “So much happened that day and there was that terrible accident with Amber...” Elena leaves the end of her sentence hanging in the air and Mrs Lockwood smiles at her sympathetically before changing subjects and gladly jumping at the chance to tell her more.

“It must have frightened you so much to find the poor girl in the woods. But yes, we had a professional photographer and the original plan was to give every competitor their picture as a thank you gift and a memory. I know that Stefan Salvatore was supposed to be your escort, but Elena, you and Damon look stunning here.” Carol Lockwood looks at her conspiratorially. “Let me tell you a secret... if it would’ve been just for this dance, you would have been crowned Miss Mystic Falls.”

Elena just smiles at Tyler’s mother for a second before her gaze quickly wanders back to the picture in her hands. She and Damon really do look gorgeous together; Elena has to admit that. After everything that had happened in the aftermath of the beauty pageant, she had never thought about their dance much. But oddly enough she now finds she can remember every single detail about it.

She had been so on edge the whole day, only a step from dropping out of the contest but she had also known she couldn’t. Her mother was the one who had wanted her to enter and so she had pulled through.

With a slight jolt in her stomach Elena realizes that the one person who had gotten her through the whole day, and night for that matter, had been Damon. He had been honest with her about Stefan, he had saved her from the embarrassment of being left by her escort, had stepped in to dance with her and frankly, the dance had been wonderful. There had been this real smile on his face, something she had rarely ever seen, his eyes shining with daylight, he had simply been enjoying himself and Elena remembers enjoying herself as well.

During their whole dance Damon somehow took her mind off all her troubles, off everything else completely and her chest tightens at the intensity of this memory. The photographer had captured the moment and the whole atmosphere perfectly, there was something...

“Elena?” Carol Lockwood asks interrupting Elena’s musings, obviously not for the first time, but she had been staring at the picture so lost in thought she hadn’t even noticed.

“Sorry Mrs Lockwood”, Elena waves her concern away, “I was just thinking about... my Mom. She would have loved to see this,” she exclaims, giving a quick, sad smile.

“Oh, I know dear, I know.” There is a short and awkward silence before the older woman composes herself. “Just take these photos with you, I’m sure you want to keep them.” And with that she makes her excuses and accompanies Elena to the door.

“Elena,” Jenna calls right the second her niece sets foot into the Gilbert home, “could you come help me with dinner preparations? Your brother just bailed on me.”

“Sure, if it doesn’t take too long? I want to head over to Stefan’s later.” Admittedly Elena isn’t too thrilled about the idea, but she has a few minutes to spare, so why not be a good niece and help her aunt out.

“Nah, it won’t take much time, just a little chopping.” Jenna smiles at Elena, “Speaking of the Salvatores”, she adds, “Why isn’t Damon throwing a party?”

“Why would he throw a party?” Elena frowns as she places her pictures on the kitchen counter, snatching a piece of bell pepper directly from Jenna’s hand. Besides him drinking a lot and partying with sorority girls she had never taken Damon for the cheery, “organizing a party for the heck of it” kind of guy.

“It’s his birthday. You didn’t know?” Jenna asks, staring at her niece incredulously as she hands Elena a knife and carrots to chop. “Ric just told me, but he claims Damon said something along the lines of getting too old to celebrate.”

Elena almost chokes on her bell pepper at this, but Jenna just snorts at what she considers to be quite the ridiculous statement. “I would call the guy a lot of things, but “too old” is definitely not one of them. But enough of Damon, how was... Wow, what’s that? Is that what Mrs Lockwood wanted to give to you?”

“Yeah,” Elena says a sheepish smile on her face, pretty sure that Damon is not going to be dropped as the latest topic now when she hands her aunt the pictures.  
“The photographs from the Miss Mystic event. She never got around to giving me mine. Granted, I never knew they took pictures in the first place.”

Jenna stares at the pictures, remembering Elena and Damon dancing.

“He IS ridiculously hot... And you just look beautiful here. You know, we never really talked about this. Why didn’t you dance with Stefan, wasn’t he your escort?” Jenna stares at her niece curiously and Elena’s mind starts racing, trying to come up with an excuse.

“Yes. Yes, he was, but he got really sick all of a sudden, must have been some bad food. So he went home and Damon stepped in for him.”

“Oh right, I remember you staying over at Stefan’s right after that because he was so unwell. Must have been some real food poisoning.” Jenna hums approvingly then, adding “That was nice of Damon, stepping in for his brother.”

“Yeah, it was. He’s... you know, sometimes he’s not half that bad.” Elena acknowledges.

She feels a little weird, saying this about Damon although it’s not that long ago he tried to turn Jeremy into a vampire. It’s... Elena can’t really grasp it lately, this emotion that runs through her whenever she thinks about him. She doesn’t want to think about him at all; everything would be so much easier if she didn’t, but her mind is a traitor these days, always leading her thoughts back to him. There’s no point in denying it, she already knows that Damon hasn’t lost her forever as she told him he had. She somehow still cares and had even told him so, but there is still something nagging at the back of her mind. Something that, whenever she tries to grasp it, evades her thoughts, retreats into her subconscious and leaves her both numb and heart-broken at the same time. She cares, but it’s not that. It’s something deeper that she can’t really place, and maybe she should be grateful for that.

“Is that why I found you kissing him on the porch?”

Jenna’s question brings Elena back to reality as harshly as if her aunt had just poured a bucket full of ice-water over her head.

Of course. She should have known that talking about Damon with Jenna was some sort of dangerous territory, but Elena had been so distracted by the pictures, the memory of the moment occupying her mind to such a degree, she hadn’t seen it coming. Jenna is staring at her intently, clearly waiting for an answer.

“Still don’t want to talk about that. It won’t happen again.” Elena tells her and though Jenna looks a little dubious, she drops the subject and Elena is left to her own thoughts.

The late afternoon is already bordering on evening when Elena finally makes it over to the Salvatore boarding house. She had been hesitant about coming here, and the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about what a mess everything concerning Damon really is doesn’t help the situation at all. But for reasons unknown to her she feels herself being drawn to him, unable to pull away. She wants to talk to him and maybe she can find out what it is about him, that makes her feel this way.

Before she can begin to consider knocking on the door or rather just barging in, it opens, revealing Stefan who is obviously just about to leave the house.

“Elena”, he says, sounding surprised, “I didn’t expect you here, is everything okay? I was just about to leave for the woods. Hunting.” He explains this to Elena as if she didn’t exactly know why he would go there.

“It’s alright. I... uh, I came to see Damon actually.” Elena clarifies, smiling apologetically.

Stefan frowns a little at this but eventually just nods. He leans down and gives her a quick peck on the cheek before he makes room so Elena can move past him and step through the door.

Elena heads directly for the living room, her uneasiness subsiding a little as she spots the familiar glow of warmth in the fireplace. She realizes that she really loves this house. It has so much history and it’s so big she is sure there must be another twenty rooms to discover, but it still feels somewhat personal to her. Safety, she thinks. It feels safe here.

Her musings get interrupted soon though when she hears Damon’s voice calling her name.

“Elena. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Facing away from the fire she sees him then, his usual smirk in place and calmly closing the buttons of his black shirt while he approaches her slowly.

“Are you alone?” The question is out of Elena’s mouth before she can stop herself. It’s hard to hold back from biting her own tongue.

“And that would be of any interest to you... why?” Damon shoots back, his tone smug. “I know I’m the irresistible one when it comes to us Salvatores, of course you would want to know, but Elena, this...”

“Damon, did you bring me my vervain necklace back?” she interrupts him impatiently, unable to keep the urgency from seeping into her voice.

Elena briefly sees some sort of emotion flicker over Damon’s face, before he carefully composes himself within a split second, his eyes showing an almost neutral expression. He sighs and turns to walk over to the liquor cabinet, reaching for one of the glass bottles and pours himself a drink.

“You already know I did. No need for me to confirm it.” he answers eventually, not looking at Elena but staring gloomily at his bourbon.

“But why don’t I remember, Damon? Why do I come up with nothing but emptiness, and this feeling of... loss whenever I think about it?” she knows her eyes are tearing up and she hates that she sounds so desperate; it makes her want to turn around and run. She doesn’t though. Her gaze stays fixed on Damon, wanting him to explain.

She startles when he is suddenly right in front of her, his blue eyes intently searching for something in her brown ones. Elena doesn’t know what he is looking for, but she can tell that he has found it when he takes a step back.

“I compelled you,” he states. Simple as that and it comes as much less of a surprise to Elena than it should.

“Tell me,” she whispers.

“No. It was something I needed you to hear once and that’s it. It doesn’t matter anymore, and I’m not going to repeat it.”

The pain is obvious in his voice and Elena feels a pang of some undisclosed feeling in her chest when he starts walking towards the stairs, away from her.

“I think I know,” she tells him quietly and it makes him turn around. He stares at her for a moment before he nods, so subtly that Elena can’t even be sure she really saw the movement.

“That all?” Damon asks, and Elena can’t stand the thought of him wanting her to leave. She reaches into her bag, carefully pulling out a sheet of paper.

“No. I also wanted to give you this.”

He slightly frowns at her words, but when she hands him the photograph there is surprise written all over his features. For a second his face is so open and unguarded and happy as he recognizes the scene on the picture in front of him, that it makes Elena’s heart stutter and she can’t help but smile. It takes a moment before he finally looks back at her and she sees the question in his eyes.

“Keep it. I have another one,” she reassures him, still smiling.

And of course he gets it. Understands that she not only wants him to have this, but is also telling him that she has kept a picture of them dancing together for herself. He doesn’t need any further explanation, just nods and still looks at her somewhat taken aback. They eventually make their way to the door in silence.

“Can I ask you something?”

If there is one thing in this world Elena will probably never get used to, then it’s Damon Salvatore sounding insecure, even if there’s just a tiny hint of it in his voice. She only raises a questioning eyebrow and waits for him to spill.

“Have I really lost you forever?”

Of all questions, Elena never had expected this one. It hits her like a punch into her guts, unbalances her and catches her completely off guard. And somehow, so does her next move, but to her it feels like there really is no other choice.

She wraps her arms around him tightly, resting her head against his chest and breathing him in until she slowly, almost hesitantly, feels him hugging her in return. It is like something inside of her finally gives way and she leans back only to pull him down into a kiss. The desperate press of her lips against Damon’s, the tightening of her fingers in the front of his shirt, the soft stroke of her tongue against his. For now this is all the words she cannot say to him, doesn’t know if she will ever reach the point where she can, and it feels like drowning and breathing freely at the same time.

Elena knows that she is dragging herself deeper into the mess that is her life, maybe even up until the point of no return, but she also knows that there is no chance in hell that she can let this go. Can let him go. And she is sure he understands.

When they let go of each other after what might have been ten seconds or ten minutes, Elena grabs her bag and makes her way to the door. Just before she leaves, she turns around quickly one last time and whispers

“Happy Birthday, Damon!”

  
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